Hallelujah
by Psycho Babble
Summary: A woman wakes herself up and starts to see the real world. Rated R for later chapters
1. part 1

Hallelujah  
  
*********  
  
Now I've heard there was a secret chord  
  
That David played, and it pleased the Lord  
  
But you don't really care for music, do you?  
  
It goes like this  
  
The fourth, the fifth  
  
The minor fall, the major lift  
  
The baffled king composing Hallelujah  
  
*********  
  
The Icarus.  
  
The operator sat at the monitors staring tiredly at the green scrolling code in front of her, she would only be to glad when her shift ended and she could get some sleep. A loud beeping sounded, which woke her out of her half slumber, she thought it was sentinels. But when she glanced at that screen there was nothing there, she tapped a few keys, then spoke into her headphones.  
  
"Captain, you'd better get up here." She said. Less than three minutes later Ajax stood next to her, looking over her shoulders at the same monitors.  
  
"Jesus! Are you sure this is correct?" He asked, Cyladriel; his operator. She nodded, not looking up from her typing.  
  
"Yes, sir. Went off a few minutes ago. She's waking up on her own."  
  
"How can that be?" Ajax murmured half to himself. It took him a moment to recover from his shock, before he started giving orders. Within minutes the rest of the crew were on the main deck.  
  
"Are we near enough to go get her?" He asked.  
  
"No, sir." Replied Gaze.  
  
"Are any of the other ships near to the fields?"  
  
"I don't know, sir."  
  
"Then find out!"  
  
*********  
  
Hallelujah, Hallelujah  
  
Hallelujah, Hallelujah  
  
*********  
  
The Fields.  
  
I woke up and all I wanted to do was roll over in bed and go back to sleep. That was when I realised I wasn't in bed, but rather floating in some kind of a pod. At first I thought I was dreaming, but when I felt something stuck in my throat I knew this was no dream and because I could see things, I had to shut my eyes almost instantly though, as it was so bright it almost blinded me. I pulled the tube from my mouth and gagged, coughing and trying to get my breath. Where the hell was I? I felt some grab me by the neck and pull something from the back of my head. Then I was sliding backwards to splash into water. I slapped my arms, or perhaps I should say that I tried to swim, but for some reason my arms and legs wouldn't respond the way I wanted them too. In the end I gave up and tried to twist around onto my back. How long I stayed in the water like that I don't know, floating on the weird smelling water.  
  
The Hammer.  
  
AK sat back, watching the green code as it descended from the top of the screen to the bottom. He was interrupted by the radio, as someone sent out a transmission. He flicked on one of the monitors and the face of Ajax; captain of the Icarus appeared on it.  
  
"This is the Icarus, calling the Hammer. Please respond." Ajax said. AK switched the radio over for a moment.  
  
"Captain, we're receiving a transmission from the Icarus." He said.  
  
"I'm on my way." Roland said.  
  
"Go ahead Icarus." Roland said as soon as he got to the main deck.  
  
"Roland, twenty minutes ago we received readings from the Matrix and the fields. Someone is waking up and you're the only one close enough to get them. I'm sending you the co-ordinates of where they should be." Ajax said. Roland froze for a moment; the last person who had woken themselves up had been the one, the first person to wake up from the Matrix. Then he was moving into action.  
  
"We're on our way, Ajax." He said, before cutting the transmission.  
  
*********  
  
Your faith was strong but you needed proof  
  
You saw her bathing on the roof  
  
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew her  
  
She tied you  
  
To a kitchen chair  
  
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair  
  
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah  
  
*********  
  
The Fields (or whatever that water place is)  
  
I was growing tired, and getting colder. All I wanted to do was sleep, but something told me to stay awake long enough for me to get out of here. And just how the hell am I supposed to do that when I can't see? I wondered. I heard a crackling, humming noise over me and I felt myself being lifted out of the water. Strange as it sounds I wasn't afraid, I mean most people would be, not knowing where they were going or what was happening to them. Someone covered me in a blanket and lifted me up.  
  
The Hammer.  
  
"Get her to the infirmary." An authoritative male voice ordered.  
  
"Yes, captain." A woman responded. Great these people probably thinkt I'm asleep. I thought. I cracked my eyes open and instantly regretted that decision, as I was blinded by light. Instinctively I jerked my head backwards, at the same time closing my eyes.  
  
"You're awake." The woman said. I tried to nod, but didn't seem to have the strength to do that.  
  
"Din' wanna fall a 'sleep an' drown." I mumbled sleepily.  
  
"It's okay for you to sleep now." The woman said.  
  
"She's gonna need it." Another male voice said near my ear.  
  
*********  
  
Hallelujah, Hallelujah  
  
Hallelujah, Hallelujah  
  
*********  
  
When I woke up the next time I sighed, some part of me had hoped it had all been a dream. Something covered my eyes, reaching up with one hand I found a pair of goggles strapped to my face. My eyes slowly adjusted and I saw that I was on a bed in a room I didn't know, hardly surprising really. I got up and walked out the door, time to find out where I am. Making my way around, I finally figured out I was on a ship of some kind, the thrumming I felt come up through the grates under my feet told me that much. I continued on my journey, looking for anyone else. Eventually I heard voices and following the sound came to a big room, with a long table that had three people sitting at it. They didn't seem to notice me as I stood in the doorway watching them. Finally I decided to interrupt.  
  
"Where am I?" I asked. At the sound of my voice the conversation stopped and all three looked up at me. The woman smiled, standing up she came over to me.  
  
"Hello...?" She said.  
  
"Silver."  
  
"Silver. I'm Maggie, that's Mauser and that's AK." She pointed to each of the men in turn. Mauser waved, as he to stood up.  
  
"Gotta go, see you later guys. Nice to meet you Silver." He said, striding out of the room.  
  
"Sit down, join us." Maggie invited. I did as she directed and she put a bowl of...something in front of me.  
  
"Eat, you'll need it." Maggie said. I picked up the spork and poked at the food cautiously.  
  
"It won't bite you." I shook my head as I looked over at her.  
  
"I know, it just reminds me of this stuff my beloved mother used to make me eat when I was younger. It was called...tapioca, I think."  
  
"It does kind of resemble that, doesn't it?" AK said. I glanced at him, smiling slightly.  
  
"I always hated tapioca." I told him. He laughed.  
  
"Not as much as you're gonna hate that."  
  
"So where am I?" I asked them.  
  
"Welcome on board the Hammer. It's a hovercraft."  
  
"Yeah, I kind of figured it was a ship of some kind. I meant where am I, as in what country...or whatever." Maggie looked at AK.  
  
"I think that the captain should tell you that." Maggie said eventually.  
  
"Okay. What about the goggles, why am I wearing them and when can I take them off?" I asked.  
  
"Have you ever heard of Lucos syndrome?" Maggie asked.  
  
"Nope, should I have?"  
  
"Probably not. It's very rare, effects about one in every five thousand people. You've got it. You won't be able to take off the goggles, Lucos is incurable. It has only been discovered in the last ten years, usually it only affects plug ins." She said. What the hell is a plug in? I wondered  
  
"Great, so how did I get here?" I asked. Maggie and AK gave each other a strange look.  
  
"You're taking this all very calmly." AK said. I shrugged.  
  
"I think this is either a very imaginative dream, or else it's real. Either way I can't do anything about it." I said.  
  
"So when do I get to meet the captain?"  
  
"Right now. Are you set up, AK?" A new voice said. I looked over towards the door, a tall blocky man stood there.  
  
"You're going to tak...yes, sir." AK said. Then the man turned to me.  
  
"Welcome onboard my ship, the Hammer. I'm the captain, Roland."  
  
"Nice to meet you," I think, I added on silently.  
  
"I'm Silver." I said.  
  
"Come with me." He said and walked out. I followed him down the corridor and up a ladder onto a wide-open area, a number of strange looking chairs were arranged in a circle.  
  
"You have one to." I said. He turned his head to look at me.  
  
"Have one of what?"  
  
"That thing...that hole in the back of your head. What is it for?"  
  
"You're about to find out." He said. Great, don't you give any straight answers, I wondered.  
  
"Sit down." He told me. He to took a seat and AK came over strapped my feet and arms down.  
  
"You might find this a little uncomfortable." He said. I was about to ask him what he meant when he shoved something into my head. And next thing I know I'm not on the ship anymore, I don't know where I am. But the goggles are gone, to be replaced by my usual sunglasses.  
  
*********  
  
You say I took the name in vain  
  
I don't even know the name  
  
But if I did, well really, what's it to you?  
  
There's a blaze of light  
  
In every word  
  
It doesn't matter which you heard  
  
The holy or the broken Hallelujah  
  
*********  
  
"This is the construct. We can load anything we want here, training programs, weapons, clothes, you name it." I turned in the direction of Rolands voice.  
  
"Take a seat." He said.  
  
"I'd rather stand." I told him. I could hear something clicking, like he was pressing buttons.  
  
"The world you knew is a computer program. It's not real. This is the world as it really is." I heard more clicking and I laughed once.  
  
"Is there something wrong?" He asked.  
  
"Nope." I replied.  
  
"So what about the hole in my head, and the...whatever they are in my arms?"  
  
"You weren't born, Silver. You were grown. Human beings are what give AI power."  
  
"AI? As in Artificial Intelligence? How's that possible?"  
  
"We created AI. We destroyed the sun, as you can see, it was their main source of energy at the time. But then there was a war and after the machines won that war, and we in turn were used to power them. These are the fields, they grow humans here and then they are moved over there, where they are plugged into the Matrix; a computer program that keeps them occupied while they suck us dry." There was a pause and then he went on again.  
  
"But some of us were freed from the Matrix, we were unplugged and brought into the real world. This is the real world, not very nice is it?" He asked.  
  
"How would I know? I can't see it." I said.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I can't see it, in here I can't see anything. Must have something to do with what Maggie said about Lima disease."  
  
"Lucos syndrome."  
  
"Whatever. My point is that she said it had only been discovered in the last ten years, maybe these machines haven't figured out how to interpret it yet, so they just make the people that have it blind."  
  
"So you're saying that all this time you couldn't see anything?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"Why didn't you tell me?"  
  
"I thought you knew." I shrugged as I said it.  
  
"Goddammit." He muttered. I walked towards him and then stopped when I heard his surprised indrawn breath.  
  
*********  
  
Hallelujah, Hallelujah  
  
Hallelujah, Hallelujah  
  
*********  
  
"What's wrong?" I asked.  
  
"You're standing in the middle of the chair." He said. I shrugged again and kept walking.  
  
"So what? You said this is a computer program if that's true then that chair isn't really here. Neither am I for that matter. So what's the problem?" I asked.  
  
"Besides, it's not the first time I've done something like that."  
  
"You mean you've walked through stuff before?" He said, just as I walked right into him...and stumbled backward.  
  
"What the...? What did you do to me?" I asked, taking off my glasses and rubbing my eyes.  
  
"What is it? What's wrong?" He asked, genuine concern showing in his voice now. I shook my head as whatever had happened went away again.  
  
"Nothing, I don't know." I said.  
  
"Wait a minute give me your hand." I waved my hand around a few times searching for his, before he caught my hand in his. Now I knew what had happened.  
  
"White?" I said.  
  
"What?" He asked.  
  
"My hair, is it white?" I remember when I was younger my hair had been snow white.  
  
"Yes." He replied. I dropped his hand and stumbled backward.  
  
"How the fuck did you do that?"  
  
"Do what?"  
  
"Make me see through your eyes. What the fuck is going on?" I grabbed his hand again. He was looking at me through narrowed eyes, as if not quite sure if he should believe me or not. Then he looked up at the ceiling.  
  
*********  
  
I did my best, it wasn't much  
  
I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch  
  
I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you  
  
And even though  
  
It all went wrong  
  
I'll stand before the Lord of Song  
  
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah  
  
*********  
  
"AK, get us out of here." He said. AK pulled the spike out of my head; I sat up as soon as he unstrapped my arms and feet. I looked over at Roland.  
  
"What the hell was that?" I asked him. Roland looked at AK. AK shrugged.  
  
"It wasn't me, captain." He said.  
  
"I don't know. I didn't know you could do that." Roland said.  
  
"You're not the only one who didn't know." I muttered.  
  
"I think I might have figured out how I did it though."  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"Yeah, you're probably gonna think it's whacked though. You said before I did that, see through your eyes I mean that I walked right through the chair. I couldn't see it, didn't know it was there. If I don't know that I can't do something, then maybe I can. The construct is a kind of computer program, right?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Every computer system has...laws, regulations, whatever. Anyway, you can break the laws of a computer system, like a game player cheats, or a computer hacker. I just broke those laws...I think." Neither Roland nor AK said anything.  
  
"Told you that you wouldn't believe me. But I still believe that's what happened."  
  
"No, I believe. It makes sense. Wait a minute, Silver?" Roland asked.  
  
"What?"  
  
"No, I mean are you the Silver that hacked into the CIA and FBI data base."  
  
"Umm...yeah."  
  
"How can you hack, I mean you're..." AK trailed off.  
  
"Blind? I know, that's why it was so easy. No one believed that a blind person could do that." I smirked at him.  
  
"That's how you found out about the Matrix." Roland said.  
  
"Nope. You remember a few minutes ago when I walked right through that chair? I said it wasn't the first time. When I was younger I used to walkthrough furniture, doors, walls etc etc. I just never stopped doing it. That's how I found out about the Matrix, of course I didn't know that's what it was called. I just knew that I shouldn't have been able to walk through stuff." I said, yeah I know what I said didn't make much sense, but you try explaining it.  
  
*********  
  
Hallelujah, Hallelujah  
  
Hallelujah, Hallelujah  
  
Hallelujah, Hallelujah  
  
Hallelujah, Hallelujah  
  
Hallelujah, Hallelujah  
  
Hallelujah, Hallelujah  
  
Hallelujah, Hallelujah  
  
Hallelujah, Hallelujah  
  
Hallelujah  
  
********* 


	2. part 2

The beginning of wisdom is found in doubting; by doubting we come to the question, and by seeking we may come upon the truth. ~ Pierre Abelard  
  
Yes I know they probably have torches and portable lights, so that they could do stuff themselves, but go with the flow.  
  
I woke up the next morning to total darkness, at first I thought it was just me so I slipped the goggles down around my neck. After my eyes adjusted I realised that the lights had gone out, then I thought that maybe they had turned them off to conserve energy. I got up and headed for the main deck, I could see things quite clearly now. Before I got to the top of the ladder I could hear Roland, Mauser and AK talking.  
  
"We need that power back on now. The last thing we need is to get caught by sentinels." Roland was saying.  
  
"What happened?" I asked.  
  
"Power went out, everything's down." AK replied.  
  
"I know this is probably a stupid question, but why are you all standing up here when you could be fixing it?" I asked. So sue me, I'd never had to fix anything but my own computer before.  
  
"Because it's dark and we can't see what we need to do." Mauser replied, somewhat sarcastically.  
  
"Oh, if you tell me where it is and how to fix...umm...whatever it is that's wrong, I'll go do it." I offered.  
  
"How are you supposed to do that?" Roland asked.  
  
"Because I can apparently see in the dark. That gives me a slight advantage here."  
  
"Okay, Mauser tell her what needs to be done." Roland ordered.  
  
"The main power is behind the Matrix monitors, it's got a cover over it that needs to be unscrewed." Mauser said. I waited for a moment.  
  
"And...the screwdriver would be where exactly?"  
  
"Here it is." AK held up the needed tool and I took it. Then went over to the wall and started unscrewing, the cover clanged to the floor.  
  
"Okay, bunch of various switches and wires, what now?" I asked.  
  
"Flick down the switch that's third from the left." Mauser said.  
  
"Okay...nothing's happening."  
  
"I know. There's a wire that needs replacing, there should be three tied up together. I want you to remove the yellow one and replace it." He said.  
  
"That's not going to work, I need precise instructions, Mauser."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"To can't tell which one is the yellow wire. To see colour you need light. I have in my hand a bunch of grey wires of varying different shades."  
  
"It's the one tied with red and gree...oh." He paused for a moment.  
  
"Wait yellow is a bright colour, right?"  
  
"I suppose so, yeah." He answered.  
  
"I need a wire cutter, or something." I said.  
  
"There's a kit on the floor near you." Roland said. I searched through it until I found what I was looking for. I quickly cut out the light coloured wire and started working on putting in a new one.  
  
"Okay, done it."  
  
"Alright now flick the switch back up." Mauser said.  
  
"Here's hoping I didn't screw up and that we're not all going to go KABOOM!" I said, and hit the switch. Bright light flooded the main deck, blinding me and even though I closed my seconds after the light came on, my eyes burned like someone had poured acid in them. I lurched away from the panel, my hands rubbing furiously at my eyes and tripping over things as I went. I crashed into someone, but because of the pain in my eyes I didn't know who it was. Whoever they were grabbed my hands and pulled them away from my watering eyes.  
  
"Don't, Silver. That will just make them worse." AK's voice said. Worse? How the hell could it get any worse? I thought.  
  
"AK, get her down to the infirmary." Roland said.  
  
"Yes, sir. That looks bad." AK said.  
  
"Thanks, AK. That makes me feel a lot better." I said painfully, as he led me away. Down in the infirmary Maggie checked my eyes, put in some eye drops and put a bandage on them.  
  
"You'll have to leave that on for a few days." Maggie said. Great, I get to go back to being blind for a while. I thought to myself.  
  
"AK, captain wants you back on the main deck, they're going in." Maggie said.  
  
"Okay. I'll see you later, Silver." He said. At least one of us gets to see, I thought. Yes, I'll admit I was pissed off, even though I had to use goggles I had been getting used to seeing things again.  
  
I now stood on the main deck, pretending that I was being useful. I didn't want to take Maggie's advice and go back to my room. So instead I hovered behind AK, listening to him tapping keys.  
  
"Shit!" The word exploded from AK.  
  
"Captain, you got agents after you. I have an exit, turn left next corner, it's the house on your right."  
  
(Roland's POV)  
  
(Note from author: Yes I love changing POV, gets you all confused...just wish I didn't confuse myself so much doing it)  
  
We ran around the corner and then I saw the house AK meant, painted white with panelling down the side, with a wild cherry tree in the front garden. I raced across the grass, Colt right behind me, I shot the door handle and shoved the door open. We could hear the distant sound of a phone ringing upstairs, I took the stairs two at a time. As I reached the top I saw a woman come out of one room, obviously on her way to answer the phone. She obviously heard us because she turned around, I noticed she was naked from the waist up, I pulled my eyes away reluctantly from her bared chest and focused on the task at hand. I raised my gun to shoot her, but her brown eyes met mine and I couldn't bring myself to do it.  
  
"Where's the phone?" I snapped. She pointed with one trembling hand, down the hallway.  
  
"Move, Colt." I said. Colt slipped around from behind me, he to had a pistol in his hand and he was keeping a close watch on the woman.  
  
"Go back into that room and lock the door." I ordered the woman. She nodded and moved off quickly, tripping over a mat on the way. The door closed quietly and I heard the click as a lock was turned. The phone sat on a small pastel pink table; Colt reached down to pick up the phone and disappeared. I moved to the table and hung the phone back in its cradle. It rang again and I was just reaching for it when a pair of feet pounded up the stairs, I whirled gun coming up again, I fired off a number of shots, but the agent moved fluidly out of their way.  
  
"Goddammit!" I muttered, quickly slapping a new clip into the gun.  
  
(Silvers POV)  
  
"Just pick up the phone." AK half murmured to himself. Colt crowded in behind me.  
  
"Shit!"  
  
"What is it?" Colt asked.  
  
"They got him. He's still alive, but they're moving him." AK replied.  
  
"Fuck!" Colt snapped.  
  
"Should we go back in?" AK asked him. Colt looked indecisive for a moment, then nodded.  
  
"Get Maggie up here, we're going to try and get him back." He said. As soon as Maggie arrived they were both plugged back in. They were back in the same house that Colt had just left, they could hear someone; presumably the woman, muttering behind the locked door. Colt picked up the phone.  
  
"We're in. Which way?" He said, picking up the gun that Roland had been using.  
  
"They were moving, but now they've disappeared. Last place I picked him up was three streets over." AK told him. I tapped AK on the shoulder, trying to get his attention.  
  
"I can help." I said.  
  
"Not now, Silver." He said.  
  
"No, seriously I can help. Colt has his gun, I can use that to see whatever the captains seeing, same as I could when I touched him." I told him. There was silence for a moment, and then he started speaking again.  
  
"Colt, Silver's going in. She can tell you more about where Roland is. Over here." He grabbed my arm and started leading me in the direction of one of the chairs. I sat down and he shoved one of those spikes into my head.  
  
"Okay, she's here." Colt's voice said. I turned my head in his direction, and held out my hand to take the gun. As soon as I had it, I could see whatever it was Roland was seeing. Come on; look at something that will tell me where you are. I thought.  
  
"Bancroft street." I told them.  
  
"AK, says that the Ajax and Gaze are in here, they're going to help us out." Colt said. Maggie put my hand on her elbow and we hurried in the direction of Bancroft Street, me giving them directions to where Roland was. I could hear an engine idling.  
  
"They're here already." Maggie said.  
  
"What's going on, Colt?" A man asked.  
  
"Agents have the captain in there. We need to get him out, but we have to make sure we're not seen."  
  
"He's on his own, they've just left him. Third door just inside. Now's your chance to do it." I said.  
  
"What...? Colt, who's this?" The man asked.  
  
"Silver this is Ajax, captain of the Icarus. Ajax this is Silver, she's the one who woke herself up from the Matrix a few days ago." Colt quickly said.  
  
"We don't have time for this. I think they've given him some kind of drug, his vision is getting all weird." I said.  
  
"Get in the car, Silver. Maggie go with her, have the car ready for when we get out. We'll go get him." Colt instructed.  
  
"No problem, someone just point me in the right direction of the car." I said. Maggie guided me over and put my hands on the car.  
  
"Right here." She said.  
  
"Great, go have some fun." I told them as I got in, Maggie got in after me. And the others went off to play their little game of who's the toughest man. Maggie got behind the wheel, just as I heard gunshots. Maggie made an 'oof' sound.  
  
"Maggie?" I asked. There was no answer; I reached over to where she had been supposed to be sitting next to me. I felt up her body, looking for her neck to check her pulse, feeling the wetness of blood along the way, but there was still a pulse.  
  
"Shit!" I swore loudly. I didn't even know where the gunshots had come from. I quickly dragged her into the back seat and climbed into the front myself. Doors opened and the sound of people getting in, and dragging someone, presumably Roland with them.  
  
"Drive!" That was Ajax, speaking from right next to me. The blind girl saves the day, I thought. Almost laughing, it was something my brother used to say to me, before he died.  
  
"Wait, Ajax, no she-" Colt was cut off as I slammed my foot down on the pedal and the car shot forward. I turned my head slightly.  
  
"Give me your hand." I told Ajax.  
  
"What? Why?" He asked.  
  
"Just do it!" I snapped. He grabbed my hand and instantly I could see the road, I veered just in time to avoid a parked car. Ajax turned to look into the back seat.  
  
"Keep your eyes on the road!" I yelled. His head turned to look at me, then back to the road.  
  
"I'm not sure if I want to know what's going on." He mumbled. I could hear Colt laughing from the backseat.  
  
"You're getaway driver is blind, Ajax. Good job, Silver." He patted me on the shoulder. Was the acceptance? I wondered. From there it was a simple task of getting to the exit and back to the ship. 


	3. part 3

AK and I stood in Rolands office, while he berated us both.  
  
"You shouldn't have sent her in there at all." He snapped at AK.  
  
"I told him to load me in." I said quickly.  
  
"He's the operator. Ultimately he makes the final decision on who goes in."  
  
"If she didn't go in you could have died, sir." AK said.  
  
"And she could have died because you sent her in there!" Roland bellowed angrily.  
  
"I've been taking care of myself for twenty years now, sir. I don't think that's changed just because I'm no longer in the Matrix." I said.  
  
"Did I ask you?! Do not re-enter this conversation until I ask you something." Roland snapped at me.  
  
"She was badly injured less than an hour before she went in, and she is essentially blind in the Matrix. What the hell were you thinking sending her in there?"  
  
"She used the gun you dropped to see where you were. Without her the agents would have still have you." AK replied.  
  
"That's not the point and you know it. She could have been killed in there, and the agents would have still had me."  
  
"They didn't though. You're got out alive and so did everyone else." I said.  
  
"Didn't I tell you not to speak until I started with you?" Roland asked.  
  
"Yep." I responded.  
  
"Then what are you doing?"  
  
"Probably getting myself into more trouble than I'm already in, sir." I said. Just shut up, Silver. I thought to myself.  
  
"I think we'll finish this up when you're ready to take this more seriously." He growled.  
  
"Yes, sir." AK said, I echoed him. AK caught my arm and guided me out the door after him, but he stopped a few steps down the corridor.  
  
"You excel at getting yourself into trouble, don't you?" He asked.  
  
"It's the only thing I've ever shown any skill at, besides hacking that is." I replied.  
  
"Well, when he calls us in there later, just stay quiet and try to be a little more serious." AK told me.  
  
"That's asking an awful lot, but I'll try." I said.  
  
"Just a suggestion, start practising now."  
  
"To do that I'd have to not talk at all."  
  
"Then do that."  
  
"I don't know how, I've never done that before." I said plaintively. He laughed and I felt him pat me on the shoulder.  
  
"You'll do alright, Silver." He said.  
  
That night I had a dream, one that I had been having on and off for years. Back in our old home, before Mom moved us into a flat. It was also before I went blind. I was playing in the garden; inside I could hear my mother arguing with my father, again. He never argued back at her, so it was always kind of one sided, but her screaming was enough for both of them. After a few minutes he came back out of the house, he stopped and crouched down in front of me.  
  
"I'm going away, Cassie. I don't know when I'll be able to see you again." He told me. He lifted my chin up with his fingers, he grinned slightly.  
  
"I love you, always remember that." Then he stood up again and started walking away. My mother came running out of the house.  
  
"If you leave us now David don't bother coming back. We don't want to see you." She screamed after him.  
  
"Yes, I do. Why you goin' away, da?" I asked him. He turned and came back to me.  
  
"Because this place isn't real. When you get older you might understand what I mean." He said. At the time I didn't understand what he meant. This time though the dream was different, always before when I had the same dream I had never been able to see his face, but now just for an instant I could.  
  
"Don't go, da. I'll be good for ya, I promises." I told him. He shook his head as he scooped me up in his arms.  
  
"It's not because of you, Cassie. This is just something I need to do." After that he left, not looking back once. I remember after he left, that my mother starting telling me never to get together with a guy when I was as young as she had been. I didn't understand that either, in my mind she had always been the one to start fights between them and he had never said anything back to her, except this one time when she had picked me up and started shaking me, saying that all their problems were my fault. He had grabbed me away from her and set me back on my feet behind him. Then he had turned back to her, fire in his eyes and told her that she would never see either of us if she did that again. He had been my protector, the one who I would go to when I hurt myself. And then he had left me alone with her. His leaving had also been my fault and I never seemed to hear the end of it from her. That was I suppose how I got into hacking in the first place, she had been bitching on at me that I wasn't doing well enough in school. I hacked into the school computer and changed my own records. It still didn't make her happy, but then nothing I had ever done in my life had ever been good enough for her. I got up and went to the mess hall, I didn't know what time it was, but I wasn't much in the humour for going back to sleep. I sat down at the long table; it wasn't long before someone joined me.  
  
"Morning." I said to them.  
  
"What are you doing up this early?" Roland asked. Wondering why the hell my father left me with a bitch like her? I thought.  
  
"Couldn't sleep, to many dreams. My mother used to say to me 'the past belongs in the past'." I said. And he's not coming back for you. It's just you and me now. I added on the last bit silently. I heard him sigh quietly.  
  
"Guess I'm not the only one who doesn't want to remember the past."  
  
"It's not that. Would you like a coffee?" He said.  
  
"Sure." I nodded. I could hear him pour the black liquid and then he sat down, sliding the cup across the table and then putting my hand on it.  
  
"How old were you when you got out of the Matrix?" I asked him.  
  
"I was a twenty-one, a year older than you are now."  
  
"Have any family in there?" I asked. There was a long silence.  
  
"Hey, if you don't want to answer that's okay. I know how you feel." I almost laughed at the irony of that statement.  
  
"Yes, I had family in the Matrix." He spoke quietly.  
  
"Me to. Well if you count me and my mother family. Didn't have no brothers or sisters."  
  
"What about a father?" He asked me.  
  
"He left a few years ago. I have a vague idea of where he went though. A part of me will always hope he hadn't left, but you know what I'd say to him I saw him today? Don't look back and regret. We all have to make important decisions at some stage of our lives." I heard someone else coming in.  
  
"Hello, AK." I said.  
  
"Silver, you ready to continue your training?" AK asked me. I looked in the direction that I thought Roland was.  
  
"I thought you said no training for me?" I could hear him laugh.  
  
"Let's just say I've been convinced. Go ahead, AK." He said.  
  
"See? I always knew havin' a big mouth would come in useful." I joked.  
  
"It was you, it was AK." Roland said.  
  
"Lead the way...literally speaking." I told AK.  
  
More than four hours later Roland returned to the main deck.  
  
"Let's see what you've learned." He said. A few moments later we were somewhere else, I wasn't wearing my usual clothes, and I had no shoes on and no glasses covering my silver eyes.  
  
"Where are we?" I asked him.  
  
"The construct. It is now a dojo, a sparring area. This is where we practice. I want you to hit me." He said. I turned my head slightly. Not long after I had lost my sight a number of people had decided to beat the crap out of me. After that I had started taking classes in martial arts. You're wondering how the hell a blind person can do that, right? It's simple really, when you loose one of your senses you learn to trust your others more than you would have had you not lost a particular sense. I turned my head slightly to the side; I could smell him and that smell became stronger the closer he was to me. I could also hear his bare feet on the floor mats as he moved around.  
  
"Do you need anything?" He asked me. I shook my head in answer.  
  
"Do you want me to blindfold myself also, make it more fair?"  
  
"I presume that you had AK train me all morning so that I could go into the Matrix on occasion, correct?" I asked him.  
  
"Yes." He replied.  
  
"Then don't use a blindfold. If I run into agents in there I don't think they'll put one on just because I say it's not fair." I said. He chuckled a little at that.  
  
"Good point." He said. I heard his feet hitting the mat with whisper light footsteps as he ran at me; I ducked out of the way, but not fast enough. He slammed into me full force and I went flying backwards into a pillar, cracking it in half. I fell to the ground, but leaped to my feet quickly and readied myself for his next attack. I turned in a full circle, but I wasn't sure where he was, until I heard him again as he moved around me. He came at me again and this time I grabbed him by the back of his shirt and slammed him to the floor. But he bounced up again almost instantly, I moved away from him. When he came at me again I got him in the throat with two stiffened fingers, I could hear him move off trying to catch his breath, then I kicked him in the stomach, and he lurched away again. I didn't stop there though I kept hitting and kicking him. Eventually he called a halt and had AK pull us out.  
  
"What the hell was that all about?" He asked. I turned in the direction of his voice.  
  
"What the fuck do you think?!" I snapped back at him.  
  
"I don't know that's why I'm asking." He replied.  
  
"Didn't take you very long to forget did it?" I asked him.  
  
"Forget what?" He said.  
  
"Exactly. Maybe you didn't want to remember. You probably got here and were only to glad to forget everything." I said. I stood up, but couldn't exactly go anywhere because I didn't know my way around yet.  
  
"What are you talking about?" He asked me.  
  
"She blamed me for that as well."  
  
"Who blamed you for what?"  
  
"My mother, said it was my fault my father left. AK can you help me back to my room?" I turned to where I thought AK was.  
  
"Umm...sure." He said. Coming over to me, he put my hand on his elbow.  
  
"I still don't know what you're talking about." Roland said.  
  
"And that's the problem. Don't kid yourself that you wanted to remember, because it's obvious you didn't want to." I said. I stopped walking long enough to turn my head in his direction.  
  
"Having white hair can't be that common, how many people have you ever known with white hair?" With that I turned and left, leaving him to mull over my final words. I was angry, very angry. I know that a few hours ago I had told him that that he shouldn't look back and regret his choice. But to actually make myself believe that was a little more difficult. 


	4. part 4

I didn't know what had made me say that stuff to him. All I knew was that I was angry at him and I wanted him to feel the hurt I had been feeling ever since he had left me alone with her. I sat in my room now, unable to sleep, thinking over what I had said to him. So you've finally figured it out. Yes, Roland is my father; or rather he had been my father in the Matrix. I didn't know whether he knew that yet or not though, I could tell you that I couldn't care less if he knew or not, but we all know that would be lying. I can remember him, the way he was just before he left, always at his computer, one day he had spun his chair around to face me.  
  
"What is the Matrix?" He had asked me.  
  
"A dream." I had replied. I hadn't even known how close to the truth I had come with that answer. At the time I had no idea what he meant, but in my childish mind I had grinned back at him, showing the gap where I had two teeth missing. But he had looked at me strangely and mumbled something that I couldn't quite hear, I had turned back to doing whatever I had been doing and he had gone back to his computer, trying to find the answer to his question. Obviously he did, otherwise he wouldn't be here. There was a knock on the door.  
  
"Go away!" I yelled.  
  
"I'd like to talk to you, Silver." Came Maggie's voice. I don't want to talk to you. I don't want to talk to anyone. I thought. I knew that on a ship this size I couldn't avoid everyone forever.  
  
"Fine then, come in." I said. I heard the wheel turning then the door creaking open and footsteps as she entered.  
  
"Mind if I sit down?" She asked. I shrugged my shoulders.  
  
"Did he send you?" I asked.  
  
"No, I get the feeling if he knew that he wouldn't be very happy about it either." She replied.  
  
"So he told you then?" I asked.  
  
"You could say that." Maggie paused and I waited for her to continue.  
  
"He honestly didn't know who you were. I know you're going to say that white hair isn't all that common, but maybe he just didn't want to think that you were his daughter."  
  
"Yeah and like I keep saying that's the problem, he doesn't want to think of me as his daughter, he'd prefer if I didn't exist. Yes, I know white hair isn't all that common, I had her tell me that I was a freak because of it often enough." My words were bitter.  
  
"Maybe if you talked to him about how you were feeling. Perhaps he feels the same way." Maggie said. I shook my head angrily.  
  
"As soon as he left he forgot about me, it's pointless trying to convince me or him of anything else. Just let it go, Maggie." I told her.  
  
"I can't." She said.  
  
"Why not? Because you and he are together?" I asked.  
  
"How did you know that?" She said. Despite the way I was feeling I smiled.  
  
"Even the blind can see that, Maggie. I'm not really surprised though." I said.  
  
"You're not upset about it?" She asked.  
  
"Am I supposed to be? I can throw a temper tantrum if you want me to." The last part was spoken in jest, anything to stay away from the subject of Roland being my father.  
  
"No, that's alright. We're going to try to get another person out of the Matrix, I think you might do good on this one." She said.  
  
"Okay. It's not like I could've hid in here forever, is it?" I said. She guided me back up to the main core, where Colt had been plugged in for the last number of hours.  
  
"Let's go, AK. Before he gets back." Maggie said.  
  
"Oh, yeah. Not a problem. But if he finds out, which he probably will, it was all your idea, okay?" AK responded.  
  
"Take a seat, ma'am." He said to me. Then he plugged me in and loaded me into the construct first.  
  
"What do you need? Guns, knives we got it." He said.  
  
"You do know that I'm blind in the Matrix, right?" I asked him.  
  
"Yeah, but you might still want to take weapons with you. So what'll it be?"  
  
"USP's two of them, as well as three rounds of ammo for each one. You might want to show me how to use them to." I said.  
  
"There right in front of you. One quick course in handling and firing of USP pistols coming right up." AK said happily.  
  
"Umm...I was..." I trailed off as my brain was assaulted with information.  
  
"Kidding." I finished.  
  
"Oops." Said AK.  
  
"You might as well take them with you anyway." I reached forward and found the pistols, I tucked them into the waistband of my jeans.  
  
"By the way, AK if these clothes look stupid on me next time I see you I'm gonna break your kneecaps." I grinned as I said it, a grin full of teeth. I've had enough people mess me about in my life already.  
  
"Nope, you're dressed all in black. Phone's in the left jacket pocket." He told me.  
  
"Okay then, I guess I'm ready to go." Then I hear this phone ringing.  
  
"Hey, Silver." He hands me something.  
  
"His pen. And I believe that's my cue to leave, see you on the other side." I can hear him pick up the phone and then it banging against the table leg, I pick it up and put it back in the cradle. Then I sit down in the chair previously occupied by Colt, and watch what the new guy is doing, at the moment he's sitting at his computer running a search for someone called 'Ballard'; the captain of the Caduceus. I'm not surprised when all this guy seemed to be getting on Ballard is terrorist activities. I don't know how long I sat there for watching what this guy was doing before he turned his head in the direction of his bedroom door. Just as it burst open and two agents came in; I let my chair drop to the floor with a crash, yanking out my phone as I did so. Just as I was about to dial it rang.  
  
"He has agents in there with him." I said in a rush.  
  
"So do you. And they cut the hard-line, you need to get out of there." AK's voice was calm, which I thought was odd. Strangely though his calmness seemed to wash away my anxiety of being caught be agents.  
  
"Which way?" I asked.  
  
"Down the fire escape. Turn left and keep going, I'll have the exit ready for you." He said. You are efficient. I thought. Soon though I was out on the street, phone pressed to my ear with one hand, pistol in the other, although I wasn't sure how I was going to be able to hit something I couldn't see, even with the training I had received. I started running to the end of the street, with AK telling me when there was a step, or a crack in the footpath etc etc. Until I heard this loud 'klunk' kind of noise and then I'm lying on the ground having lost the gun and the phone, totally disoriented and wondering what the hell just happened to me. I groaned in pain.  
  
"Dumazz!" I muttered to myself. I pulled my hand away from my forehead that was growing a lump. I had obviously run right into something, probably a metal pole judging by the sound I had made when I hit it. Only problem now was I had no phone, and no way of figuring out where I was or how to get anywhere. So I do the only thing I can think of.  
  
"AK!" I shout.  
  
"I dropped the phone." I hope he can hear me and that the phone is still connected to the ship, of course I don't know what he can do about it either.  
  
"AK-" I stop speaking as I feel the cold muzzle of a gun pressed against my temple.  
  
"We finally meet in person, Miss Roberts. I have been looking forward to meeting you." Comes the cold voice of what I know is an agent. Inwardly I curse myself, I shouldn't have shouted like that.  
  
"Wish I could say the feeling was mutual." I say. Then I leap away from him, it doesn't matter that I can't see my surroundings, like a light switch I can turn that on and off as well, I can make things not really be there. Perhaps I should have done that when I was running for the exit. I land and keep on moving, but I still have no idea where I am and I can't hear the agent, something slams me in the side of my head and I go down. I guess I found him.  
  
"So why don't you just kill me and have it over and done with?" I ask. I can hear him laugh. Can programs have a sense of humor?  
  
"It is not your time to be deleted yet, Miss Roberts. You have something we want." He says. He sticks a needle in my arm and injects the contents.  
  
"What...?..." What do you want from me? But for some reason I can't speak out loud, I can't move and he picks me up slinging me over his shoulder like I was a side of beef.  
  
(dE hAmMeR)  
  
"Now left. Look out post box." AK's eyes darted from monitor to monitor.  
  
"Go left, right. There's a po-" AK winced when he realized he was to late with the warning.  
  
"Silver?" He looked over his shoulder at Maggie when he got no answer. Maggie was standing next to her chair.  
  
"What's going on?" She asked him.  
  
"I don't know...Oh shit! An agent has her. Why the hell isn't she running?" He asked of no one in particular.  
  
"Because she can't see anything, she has no choice but to fight him." Maggie replied.  
  
"What the hell?..." AK lifted his hands of the keyboard as Silver's code went all strange.  
  
"What just happened?" He called.  
  
"He just injected her with some kind of paralyzing drug." Maggie glanced over at him.  
  
"We better get the captain up here." AK paused just long enough to cast her a glance that clearly said 'Are you insane' then he shrugged.  
  
"He's gonna find out anyway." AK said, under his breath he muttered 'I'm dead'.  
  
"And she'll be dead if we don't do something." Maggie snapped at him. A few moments later Roland appeared at the top of the ladder, he didn't look too happy when he saw that Silver was plugged into the Matrix. Even less so when he was told what had happened.  
  
"Goddammit!" Roland snapped. He didn't bother wasting his time telling them that they shouldn't have done this. Instead he sat in another of the chairs.  
  
"Get Colt up here now!" He ordered just before AK plugged him in.  
  
(dE mAtRiX)  
  
He appeared next to the same phone that Silver had been supposed to exit through, no more than a few footsteps away he could see her fallen phone and pistol. He picked them up, pocketing both and then heading in the direction he had been told Silver was in. To his surprise he found that it was the same building that he had been brought to a number of days ago. It was probably some sort of agent base.  
  
"Why are we always bailing you out of trouble, Roland?" Someone asked. A car had pulled up beside him; Ajax grinned at him from the passenger seat that Gaze was driving. Ajax reached back and opened the door and Roland climbed in.  
  
"What's going on? AK wasn't very forthcoming." Ajax said. Roland nodded towards the building, as Gaze continued driving slowly past.  
  
"Silver was watching someone that we were going to take out. Agents got her before she could get out." Roland said. Ajax pointed around the corner and Gaze nodded.  
  
"Got it, Cap." She said. As soon as they got around the corner, she pulled over and shut the engine off.  
  
"How many agents?" Ajax asked him.  
  
"I know that it was one agent that took her. But there could be any number in there, we can't seem to read anything that's inside those walls." Roland replied. Ajax sighed then looked at Gaze.  
  
"Got enough in there to take over a small country, Cap." She told him, grinning widely. If there was one thing Gaze truly loved it was causing mayhem and chaos, especially if it involved agents. Roland turned his scowling face on her.  
  
"Don't mess this one up. This isn't a game, Gaze." He snapped. Gaze turned to look at Ajax, who in turn looked back at Roland.  
  
"Is there something you're not telling us?" He asked. A muscle popped in Rolands jaw.  
  
"She was...is my daughter. I left her on her own before, I won't do it again." He said.  
  
"Jesus Christ, Roland! Does Locke know?" Ajax asked.  
  
"Do I look insane to you?" Roland snapped.  
  
"We need to get her out of there!"  
  
"We know that already. What we don't need is to go in there half cocked with no plan of action. That's a sure way of getting ourselves killed." Ajax said calmly.  
  
(iN bIg ScArY bUiLdInG, wItH mEaN aGeNtS)  
  
I lay on the floor where the agent had dumped me. I still couldn't move, but I could hear what they were saying,  
  
"You will tell us what we want to know." Came the cold voice of the same agent. Then they injected me with some other kind of drug and I couldn't hear what they were saying either. How the hell am I supposed to know what it is you want when I can't hear you? I wondered. Then I felt them lift me up by my arms and tie my wrists together, I hung like that for how long I don't know. An agent started tearing at my clothes and it wasn't long before I was naked, then I felt the pain and I knew what it was that they were doing. I wanted to scream, to pull away, but I could do nothing, I just hung there. They stopped after a while, I couldn't tell you if they'd been doing it for hours or days. They didn't let me down though; my arms and shoulders were now burning with a constant pain. I could feel blood on my face and body at least I think it was blood, it could have been tears. I was surprised when I found I could move slightly and only a little without causing to much pain, but I was still tied up. With no sense of time or place I couldn't figure out where I was, and I wondered briefly if I had been abandoned by Roland; my father. It is strange that when in the most painful and loneliest times of our life's we automatically assume that everyone we know and love has forgotten about us. But then I figured he had done the same before and what was to stop him from doing it this time? I felt someone touch my hands, trying to remove the bonds on my wrists. Then my hands were free; I tried moving away from them, but only succeeded in taking a few stumbling steps before my legs gave way under me. Whoever it was that had untied me threw what felt like a coat over me and then pulled one of my arms across their shoulders, I reached out with my other hand to touch their face and try to find out who they were. I didn't recognise them.  
  
"Who...?" I asked. I don't know if they answered my half-mumbled question or not, I still couldn't hear anything. They half dragged, half carried me somewhere, into a car, I felt someone else gently wiping my face, and instinctively I moved away from them, groaning in pain. Then the car stopped, someone pressed something to my ear.  
  
(dE sCrEwDrIvEr AkA dE hAmMeR 97th AnD a HaLf PoV)  
  
And then Silver was back on the Hammer, at first no one knew if she was conscious, but then she moved, a spasmodic jerking and blood ran from her eyes, ears mouth and nose. AK held her down as Maggie gave her the quick once over before declaring her fit to be moved down to the infirmary. That was before Roland returned, and he was definitely not happy with what the three of them had done behind his back, judging by the look on AK's face though he knew he was in deep shit already. Without saying a word to him, Roland stalked off to the infirmary.  
  
hAhAhA, I hAd To MuCh CoFfEe WhIlE tYpInG tHiS uP, sO iF iT mAkEs No SeNsE i DoN't CaRe 


End file.
